Do you and your family eat fresh vegetables and greens every day?
I know, salads can be labor intensive and time-consuming to make! Not to mention, the same combination of bagged lettuce and bottled dressing gets old, really fast!
I used to dread making green salads for those reasons, so I started making a “base” of greens that I could use as a jump-start for different salad recipes.
The beauty of this idea is that the greens stay fresh by themselves much longer than a salad that has other more fragile foods in it like tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries or peppers.
So here’s the short cut:
Wash and spin or dry a variety of leafy greens.
Pictured above is a 1/2 a bunch of Swiss chard, 1 head of red leaf lettuce, 1 bunch of kale and 1/2 head of green cabbage. I also love to use spinach, red cabbage, different kinds of leaf lettuce or watercress for a little radish flavor. Add grated carrots to the mix. (More salad recipes here!)
Store this blend in a glass bowl with a tight fitting lid and or in plastic bags in the fridge. It will keep fresh for a week or more. Then, when you are preparing dinner, simply put as many greens in a serving bowl as will feed your family for that meal, add extras for unique flavor blends, color and texture.
A few add-on ideas for delicious variety:
- sliced tomatoes, croutons, green onions, crumbled bacon and homemade ranch
- strawberries, pecans browned in butter and honey and grated, smoked cheese with poppyseed dressing
- avocado, mandarin oranges, slivered almonds browned in butter with garlic vinaigrette
- diced cucumbers, olives, cherry tomatoes, crumbled feta cheese and balsamic dressing
The possibilities are endless! I encourage you to experiment and find combinations of flavors your family will love!
Wishing you stress free, healthy meals,
Love,
